NEW ORLEANS — No. 1 Kansas University Jayhawks remain just that! Kansas University claimed the NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship title after beating No. 8 UNC Tar Heels 69 to 72 Monday night in New Orleans.
Carolina and Kansas played each other in the Final Four for the fifth time, two more than any other matchup in Final Four history (Duke-Kansas, UCLA-Louisville and UNC-Michigan State have all played three times in the Final Four). UNC defeated KU in the 1957 championship game and the 1993 semifinals; the Jayhawks beat UNC in the semifinals in 1991 and 2008.
The championship game marked another significant one for the UNC Tar Heels coming off a win against Duke University as they tried to become the second only No. 8 team to win a national championship title all while under new head coach Hubert Davis. He’s the fourth UNC head coach to lead his team to an NCAA Tournament berth in his first season at the helm. Davis and Bill Guthridge are the only coaches to win at least four games in their first NCAA Tournament as head coaches.
“I’m so proud of these guys. In what they have done for themselves and for the team. I can’t ask them to do any more than what they’ve done," Davis said following the loss against Kansas.
“We all wanted to win. We came this far,” Armando Bacot said.
“The positive thing is, I wouldn’t want to go through this with anyone else,” Caleb Love said.
History is deep for the Tar Heels and Jayhawks as former head coach Dean Smith played at Kansas, winning a national championship in 1952 and playing in another Final Four in 1953. He led UNC to 879 wins and two NCAA titles as head coach. Former head coach Roy Williams won 418 games in 15 seasons as Kansas’s head coach from 1988-2003 and led the Jayhawks to four Final Four appearances. Williams won 485 games and three national titles in 15 seasons as UNC’s head coach.
The national championship game marked the 12th time UNC has competed for a title. UNC has played in the finals in 1946, 1957, 1968, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009, 2016, 2017 and 2022. Carolina played in the championship game for the third time in six seasons.
This marks UNC’s 52nd appearance in the NCAA Tournament. It also marks their 21st appearance in the Final Four the most in NCAA history. The Tar Heels are 130-48 in the NCAA Tournament. The 130 wins are the most all-time. The Tar Heels won NCAA titles in 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009, and 2017.
LIVE GAME UPDATES
FIRST HALF
9:20 p.m. - UNC vs. Kansas starts now!
9:21 p.m. - Jayhawks get it started early with a three.
9:22 p.m. - Jayhawks with back-to-back shots and lead 5 to 0 against Tar Heels.
9:23 p.m. - KU makes two on the line.
9:24 p.m. - UNC with the three to get started on the board.
9:26 p.m. - Manek takes an elbow to the face.
9:32 p.m. - Bacot from down low and it's good for two.
9:36 p.m. - UNC ties it up 11-11.
9:37 p.m. - Kansas hits it and leads 13-12 against UNC.
9:44 p.m. - RJ Davis makes two from the free-throw line.
9:46 p.m. - UNC ties it up 18-18.
9:47 p.m. - Bacot makes two at the free throw line and takes lead against Kansas, 20-18.
9:53 p.m. - Jayhawks get back in it with two but UNC leads 22-20.
9:55 p.m. - UNC nails it for two after Jayhawks come a calling.
9:56 p.m. - Manek with the three from downtown. UNC leads 28-22 against KU.
10:02 - UNC on a 10 basket run leading 32-22 against KU.
10:17 p.m. - UNC leads 40-25 at the half against KU.
SECOND HALF
10:39 p.m.- UNC starts out with possession.
10:40 p.m.- Kansas scores the first bucket in the half.
10:42 p.m.- Manek takes the rebound.
10:43 p.m.- Kansas down by 9 as UNC leads.
10:43 p.m.- Love hits a 3, UNC 43, Kansas 33.
10:45 p.m.- Love puts up a duece.
10:45 p.m.- Kansas strikes a foul before cutting UNC's lead to single digits.
10:52 p.m.- Armando is at the free-throw line and it goes.
10:53 p.m. -UNC's lead cut to 5.
10:55 p.m.- Manek blocks a shot, then Jayhawks gain possession.
10:55 p.m- UNC's lead cut to a one-point game.
11:00 p.m.- Caleb throws up a duece.
11:00 p.m.- KU responds with another bucket. UNC 48, KU 47.
11:04 p.m.- Johnson hits a slam dunk making it a 3 pt. game.
11:05 p.m.- Kansas hits another buck shaking it back to a one-point game.
11:06 p.m.- Foul called on UNC, Kansas hits a free throw tying up the game.
11:07 p.m.- UNC down by 6.
11:07 p.m.- Davis comes up with the layup.
11:08 p.m.- Bacot with a rebound, RJ Davis drives in another bucket.
11:08 p.m.- Foul called on Bacot, bringing McCormack to the free throw line.
11:11 p.m.- Johnson locks the game up with a 3 point bucket, UNC 50, KU 50.
11:17 p.m.- UNC 61, KU 63 with back-to-back buckets by Puff!
11:19 p.m.- Puff isn't looking too good. He's down on his knees.
11:20 p.m.- Puff Johnson is on the bench as Kansas leads by 4.
11:25 p.m.- Bacot at the free throw line giving UNC 2 victory throws.
11:27 p.m.- Manek at the free trow line giving UNC two more buckets locking up UNC and KU.
11:29 p.m.- With less than two minutes left, UNC is up by one! UNC 69, KU 68.
11:32 p.m. -Bacot out with just seconds left in the game.
11:34 p.m.- FOUR SECONDS left.
11:35 p.m.- Kansas out of bound? Refs reviewing the play.
GAME DAY PHOTOS: Kansas vs UNC NCAA Championship game
BEFORE GAME
THEY HAVE ARRIVED
Who has time to walk when you have a national championship game ahead of you? They need all the energy they can get until the tip off. Watch as they ride on a golf cart in style.
QUICK FACTS TO KNOW
- Carolina is playing in the national championship game for the 12th time. UNC has played in the finals in 1946, 1957, 1968, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009, 2016, 2017 and 2022.
- Carolins is playing in the championship game for the third time in six seasons
- UNC is 6-5 in NCAA title games, including 2-0 in the Superdome
- Carolina and Kansas are playing in the Final Four for the fifth time, two more than any other matchup in Final Four history (Duke-Kansas, UCLA-Louisville and UNC-Michigan State have all played three times in the Final Four).
- UNC defeated KU in the 1957 championship game and the 1993 semifinals; the Jayhawks beat UNC in the semifinals in 1991 and 2008.
- With a win, Hubert Davis would become the first individual to lead his team to a national championship in his first full season as a head coach (Michigan’s Steve Fisher was the head coach for the six NCAA Tournament games in 1989).
- Davis, the winner of the John McLendon Award as the 2021-22 National Coach of the Year, is the fifth individual to lead his team to the national championship game in his first season as a college head coach (Dick Harp of Kansas in 1957, Indiana State’s Bill Hodges in 1979, UCLA’s Larry Brown in 1980, Fisher and Davis).
- Carolina is 2-1 all-time on April 4, winning the 2005 NCAA title vs. Illinois, beating Villanova in the 2009 semifinal and losing to Villanova in the 2016 championship game
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